Until her appointment as Undersecretary for the Environment, Loh was CEO of Civic Exchange, the Hong Kong think tank that she co-founded in 2000. She was named "Woman of the Year for 2006" by Hong Kong Business.[1] She has worked in many areas, including law, business, politics, media and the non-profit sector, but is best known as a leading voice in public policy in Hong Kong, particularly in promoting democracy and environmental protection. She has long been associated with the campaign to save Hong Kong's Harbour from excessive land reclamation and overdevelopment.[citation needed]

Contents

Loh attended St. Paul's Convent School in Causeway Bay, and later Island School in Mid-levels, Hong Kong. She then went to Bedford High School in the UK. She later attended the University of Hull, City University of Hong Kong (Masters of Law in Chinese & Comparative Law) and the University of Hull (Doctor of Law, honoris causa) and was trained as a lawyer but she worked for 12 years as a commodities trader (1980–1991), rising to become managing director and later director of business development. Loh spent fourteen years in the commercial world, holding top regional posts in commodities trading at Philipp Brothers and Phibro Energy – the physical commodities trading arms of US multinational Salomon, Inc. (now Citicorp) — before joining a Hong Kong company (CIM Co.), where she headed the special projects division between 1992 and 1994. In April 2006, she was elected by shareholders of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) to be a director of the company.[1]

In 2000, she and Lisa Hopkinson co-founded a Hong Kong-based non-profit think tank, Civic Exchange, and once again entered the political spotlight, but outside of the LegCo. She resigned as its chief executive on 11 September 2012 upon her appointment as Undersecretary for the Environment in the administration of CY Leung, taking up her new post the following day.[8] At the same time, she resigned from all her positions in other non-profit organisations, academic affiliations, and non-executive directorships in commercial firms.